you could always spend TONS more money and install a small honda
generator with an electric motor connected directly to the input shaft
on the transmission :)

i say honda, because they make some super-quiet generators~

On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 2:34 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans
<scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> for fuel mileage I would say you can expect around 19 to 20 mpg, with a high
> of about 21 mpg on the highway, with a manual trans Vanagon.
> As low as 17 mpg if you push it hard, like at 70 mph .
>  You might consider in inline four, 1.8 Jetta/gold engine.
> One guy on here runs that with a 5 speed trans in a fairly early vagabond
> and he reports 23 mpg on the highway, and a one time high of 27 mpg.
> those engines are plentiful and inexpensive, and if you use diesel vanagon
> engine mounting parts, it's a bolt-in.
>  I'll be installing a 16 valve version of this engine into my personal
> vanagon when I find the time.  Should be a nice little engine ......123 hp
> at 5,800 rpm.
>
> Subaru - a 2.2 Subaru engine will deliver 21 mpg with a bit more
> .........I've had an engine conversion customer of mine report a high of 24
> mpg, fully loaded in a westy on a summertime trip to Colorado, including
> high altitude driving, like up to 11,000 feet.
>
> oh yes....Bostig Ford Zetec engine ..........2.0 liters, inline 4, 16
> valves.........those should do in the low 20's I think, and better than a
> waterboxer for sure.
>
> 'what you can use that's already there' - probably mainly the cooling system
> stuff that's been added to change your vanagon  from air-cooled to liquid
> cooled.....all that should transfer over, but seems to me not much else.
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michelle Garofano" <mystigal@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 6:11 PM
> Subject: used Vanagon engine
>
>
>> Greetings all!
>>
>> To you folks who have done your engine swaps and have an old (but good)
>> Vanagon engine that needs a new home, I'm in the market, as it were (I'm
>> in
>> the Seattle area).  I recently purchased a 1981 Westfalia that had been
>> converted to water-cooled with a Mazda RX-7 rotary engine... which gobbles
>> oil like crazy & requires an elaborate ritual of maneuvers to get it to
>> start... two things I'd just rather not deal with.  I'm looking for gas
>> mileage more than power, and would appreciate advice on which engine
>> (1.9L,
>> 2.1L, etc.) gets the best mileage for hauling the weight of a full-camper
>> Westy.  Since all the conversion gear is already in place for the Mazda
>> engine, I'm also looking into what else might work with my current set
>> up...
>> though my recent experience (& research I've done around it) has soured me
>> on rotary engines in general, and I'm not interested in going deisel at
>> this
>> point in time.
>>
>> Happy Travels,
>> Mish
>